The killing of 22-year-old James Scurlock has gained national attention. On Saturday night (May 30), he was shot and killed by a bar owner in Nebraska, who was later identified as Jake Gardner.

“Last night I lost a son, my wife lost a son, my kids lost a brother,” Scurlock’s father said. “His daughter lost a father. All because he decided to protest against racism. There’s a lot of speculation and rumors about how this happened. I don’t really care to be honest. My family wants closure and peace. I’ve already been harassed by people.”

“What we want is for this to go to court and get a full prosecution. We want this to go with justice and go peacefully,” he continued.

Police tweeted on Sunday (May 31) that Gardner was taken into custody. Just hours before the shooting, he posted on social media saying that he would protect his business amid the protests that were taking place nearby.

“Just when you think, ‘what else could 2020 throw at me?’ Then you have to pull 48 hours of military style firewatch,” Gardner wrote on Facebook.

Today (June 1), Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine announced that no charges will be filed against Gardner for the fatal shooting. He believes that video evidence of the shooting proves that Gardner was acting in self-defense.

“Douglas County is a community of people I truly love. And I’ve been very proud of and very proud to serve as the county attorney in this this great county that we live in,” Klein said. He called the killing “senseless” and said that his decision is based off the information that his office has currently.

Klein also said that there is no audio to support Gardner using racial slurs against Scurlock. He walked the audience at the press conference through the video footage. He said that Gardner believed that Scurlock was trying to grab his weapon.

“The other thing I would ask if there is any other evidence that people are aware of other videos,” Klein continued. “Other witnesses. Anything else that would guide us or help us in decision making process, we would still like that, to come forward because I’m going to talk to you about the decision we’ve made it based at this point in time.”

Our prayers and thoughts go out to Scurlock’s family and friends. Rest in peace.